As a middle school science teacher, he organized a three-day outdoor education trip for all Plymouth seventh graders for 25 years.

[4] He helped obtain grants to establish and maintain a TV studio within the school.

In 2008, he received an Earthwatch fellowship to study elephant behavior at Tsavo East National Park in Kenya.

He is past president of the nonprofit STEP Foundation,[9] which has funded an observatory, established teaching awards, and supported students and teachers in science endeavors.

[11] Phillips is co-author with Marcia Tate of the teaching strategies book Science Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites.